Last Sunrise
by PinKat
Summary: He was the strongest. He was perfect. He was the best. So why did StarClan let his sister die?


**A/N: For the challenge at LawlClan. The prompt was 'It lit up the sky'.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, or any of the characters. **

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><p>The start of a day always begins with a sunrise. The colors stretch across the horizon, lighting up the sky in a golden glow. It's something everyone takes for granted, something that is just part of the day. It's nothing important, nothing new. Nothing that anyone cares about.<p>

But that sunrise can be taken away, and no one knows which one could be their last.

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><p>"Thistleclaw! Thistleclaw!" the cheers of his Clanmates rose around him, and he felt his chest swell up in pride. He was a warrior, the strongest of them all. He would someday be standing on the Highrock, respected and feared by the other Clans, naming new warriors, himself. He would be Thistlestar, the strongest leader since the first.<p>

He glanced down at the clan, seeing the pride in his parents' expressions, Rosepaw's beaming smile, and the happiness in the eyes and faces of his Clanmates. This was a day he would always remember, one that he would treasure for the rest of his life. It was something that he could look back upon when he was old and gray, and be proud of. He fought off that dog, something that hadn't been attempted for seasons, and may not be attempted again for many more moons. He knew that was a feat to be proud of.

Then he spotted Sweetpaw, and his heart sunk, his grin slowly fading. She looked thin and sickly, her ribs showing through her dull pelt. Her eyes were bright, though, but she looked like she might never experience the joy that he was feeling. The feeling of power, this dominance, the idea of finally being able to prove himself, it was overwhelming. He could finally show every single cat how strong he could be.

He put on another smile, but the vision of Sweetpaw's weakened state was stuck in his mind.

_Would she… die? _He quickly banished the idea from his thoughts, but it continued to nag at him. He shook his head, trying to clear the mere idea from his mind. She would be fine, and he would make sure of it. He would do everything and anything that he could, just to keep her with him.

"_Sweetpaw, I'll never let anything happen to you_," he had vowed, when she had first been made an apprentice. Would he be able to keep that promise? Or would it be just another time he had broken his word?

Thistleclaw shook his head. He was the strongest, and he was definitely strong enough to make sure she lived. And she was strong enough to pull through. She would always be by his side, helping him, supporting him, and just being there for him.

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><p>"She won't wake up! She won't wake up!" his mother's panicked meow rose to a wail, and he knew what had happened.<p>

_She can't be… It can't be true_.

He ran into the apprentices' den, his heart pounding. "Can I come in?" he demanded, his tail trailing across the ground. Poppydawn gave him a swift nod, her eyes dull with grief.

Sweetpaw's still body confirmed what he had thought, and as he buried his nose into her once-beautiful fur, his eyes closed, just like her eyes, but he knew the difference. His would open, someday, but hers would not.

Snowfur was at his side, murmuring into his ear, trying to comfort him, but it was to no avail. She was gone, and no words of hers, no matter how much he loved her, could bring his sister back.

He blinked at Snowfur, and straightened up, then whispered in her ear, "Snowfur, this is a tragedy, and we will grieve. And we have to stay strong, in her memory. It's what she would have wanted us to do." He knew that he would miss her, but the words he said were true. Life goes on. And it was his duty to carry it on.

Her body was carried to the center of camp, rosemary and lavender overwhelming her sweet scent, her fur smoothed and groomed, but it wasn't the same. It would never be.

"Deal with it," he muttered to himself, conscious of all the pitying looks other cats were giving him. He hated to look like this. Weak, pitiful, not like the strong, wonderful, perfect warrior he was.

He clawed at the dirt, ignoring the pain is his claws, the idea of her being _dead _still fresh in his mind. She was always the nicest, the most considerate, always someone he could turn to, always there for him. Unlike him. What had he done for her? What had he sacrificed for her? If only he had been a better brother, maybe she could have lived. Was StarClan punishing him? He always thought StarClan did what was best for each and every cat, but maybe he was wrong. They took Sweetpaw's life away from her, so maybe they weren't as good as everyone said they were.

"_Thistleclaw, I'm so sorry," _a soft, quiet, familiar voice seemed to be carried on the wind. A scent drifted in the air for a moment, and then it was gone.

"Sweetpaw!" Thistleclaw let out a cry, hoping to find his sister beside him, purring and reassuring him that she was fine, and it was just a dream.

But he knew moaning over her wouldn't help. He could just help her on the way, and meet her again someday, in StarClan. He would just have to be strong, stronger than any cat before. How else could he stand the pain? Was this what Snowfur had felt when her mother died? There was this pain, like someone clawed a hole in his heart.

As one thought raced through his mind, he raised his face to the stars, which were beginning to fade into the light of dawn. It was just another sunrise that she would never live to see. And she was just another cat that StarClan thought they could get rid of. Just another life that they thought they could toss aside.

_Why did it have to be her?_


End file.
